Self-Healing, Cancer and Love - Part 4

This is an excerpt from A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer and Love (Part I here). The book is an energy healing and meditation guide for families who are dealing with cancer.   

Introduction 

When I started writing this book my intent was to create an Energy Healing guide for cancer patients. The idea was to share my family’s experience – how it changed our lives and the perspective I have gained since then through my own healing journey. I also wanted to give others a chance to apply the techniques learned during a two-year healing course at the School of Intuition and Healing in London. Since then, this project has evolved into much more, no doubt thanks to my background in philosophy which means I enjoy asking questions. The first half of the book explores the question “Why do people get sick?” from biological and spiritual points of view. I cover a variety of factors ranging from diet, genetics and lifestyle to emotional and mental patterns that may hold back the healing process. I also believe that every difficult experience gives us valuable insights and lessons. Cancer is no exception. Some may feel regret over the direction they have taken with their lives and how much quality time they have spent with family and friends. The healing process involves accepting these feelings when they arise, learning from them and moving on.

The second half of the book explores Energy Healing as a complementary therapy to medical intervention. Energy Healing is a broad term that can be used to describe a variety of self-healing techniques including guided meditations, breathing exercises, journaling and hands-on healing such as Reiki. My theory is that Energy Healing addresses the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of disease while medical intervention treats the physical body. These two disciplines can work together. This book will give the a reader a basic understanding of the energy body, including the Aura and the Chakras, and how we can use a variety of self-healing techniques to release stress, tension and even old hurts and beliefs that may be undermining the healing process. Because these techniques also help manage mental and emotional stress, which can easily leave a person feeling drained, Energy Healing can be useful for the whole family.

My approach to Energy Healing hinges on the belief that our thoughts, emotions and reactions have an emotional charge. A positive experience can leave you feeling happy and energized. A negative experience does the opposite. For example, a severe disappointment can leave a person feeling angry, bewildered or hurt. Self-healing involves releasing these emotions from our consciousness and moving on. Some people find it easy to forgive. Others have trouble letting go, especially when there is a genuine grievance to overcome. Healing techniques facilitate the process, but ultimately it is the individual who lets go. Energy Healing can also help manage feelings of anxiety, hopelessness, anger and resentment. The last two can be especially toxic. I believe that with time, buried resentment and anger will eat away at a person from the inside, much like a tumor, and that for healing to occur on all four levels – mental, emotional, spiritual and physical – we need to connect with the energy of unconditional love and forgiveness. Hence the title of this book: Self-Healing, Cancer & Love.

Earlier I stated that Energy Healing is complementary to medical care. This is a legal requirement in some countries and I agree wholeheartedly for the following reasons:

1. Even if we could prove that anger and resentment are at the root of most cancer cases, it may still be easier to have surgery than it is to genuinely forgive.

2. I have not seen robust evidence to show that healing alone, or any complementary therapy by itself will prolong a cancer patient’s life. Individual case studies do not have the statistical significance to predict an outcome. Rather, that statistical confidence can only be found in randomized control trials, where large patient groups are administered one of several treatment options under medical supervision.

3. Though we would certainly like to, the role of the energy healer is not to save the client’s life. We are there to facilitate their self-healing process and their soul path. Energy Healing will not save a client from a learning experience that they are meant to have. In some cases, the illness may be necessary to trigger a change of consciousness before the patient moves on to the next stage in their life. For others, it may be their time to go and Energy Healing can help them find comfort and peace.

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Thank you for reading! A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love is available on Amazon below. Please click on your country, below, for details: 

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Energy Healing and meditation are complementary to medical care, not alternative. In instances where a family member or friend was diagnosed with cancer, the focus has been on supporting them through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments. 

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Regina Chouza is an Energy Healer, Angel Medium and author of A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer & Love and Chakra Healing & Magick. She studied angels, tarot and astrology at The College of Psychic Studies in London, and qualified as an Energy Healer at the School of Intuition & Healing UK. Blogging since 2010, Regina's passion is bringing the qualities of love, joy and empowerment to healing pursuits. 

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Self-Healing, Cancer and Love - Part 3

This is an excerpt from A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer and Love (Part I here). The book is an energy healing and meditation guide for families who are dealing with cancer.   

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My parents went back to the hospital for a scan the first week of October. They expected to go back together for the results three days later. But the surgeon rang my mother the next morning and told her to come around by herself. It was dreadful news. Though the surgery had removed the tumor completely, there was a new one in a different part of his brain. It was too soon after the surgery to operate again and even if it were possible, we could expect more to come. There was nothing he could do about it. Dad’s case was terminal. My mom called that evening to soften the blow before giving us the full news a few days later. It was a real shock. After four years and nine months we had reached the end of the line. We were in a state of disbelief and my dad, for one, never acknowledged the prognosis. This made the next few months even harder, though we had to respect his wishes. I can only imagine how he must have felt when he heard the news.

My brother and I flew home immediately. We did not know how long he had. Maybe three months, maybe a year. Dad’s health deteriorated rapidly. My sister came home Dec. 15 and Dad slipped into a coma the next day. Mom had a grief counselor come to see us that week. That was a conversation I never expected to have. The counselor told us what to expect in the last few weeks. For example, we might feel relief when it was finally over. She told us it was normal to wish the end would come sooner. That was hard to hear, but she was right. In those last days we also worried about practical considerations. For example, pain medication was in short supply in pharmacies. We were constantly on the phone to local drugstores and wound up buying the medication straight from a wholesaler.

Our expectations for Christmas were low that year but we managed to have a pleasant time. My aunts, uncles and cousins came over for dinner. It was a welcome break from the steady stream of nurses and others who added to the emotional overload in the house. Dad passed away a few days later – five years to the day of his initial diagnosis in the ER. The irony was not lost on us; we saw it as an extension on his life. My feelings were a mix of relief, sadness and disbelief at his passing, as well as gratitude for five years that were, for the most part, happy.

We also were relieved that it was quick and relatively painless. Cancer can be a harsh disease and we wanted him at peace more than anything else. When my brother and I walked past a pharmacy the following week we both remarked that our first thought was whether they had painkillers in stock. I could not help smiling. It finally dawned on me that we did not have to worry anymore and a huge weight came off my shoulders.

Looking back on it, I have learned a lot from the experience.

• I have deep respect for the medical profession and I am grateful to the wonderful doctors, nurses and technicians who treated my dad. Their dedication, skill and expertise gave him the best chance of survival. That said, for nearly four years, he was their miracle case. At one point, the radiotherapy team greeted him with tears in their eyes. They never expected him to make it for so long. The fact that he outlived their expectations by four years, and then passed on the same calendar day of his initial diagnosis tells me someone upstairs is in charge.

• One of the theories of Energy Healing states that illness often follows a strong emotional upset in a person’s life. It might be the loss of a job, a divorce or in my dad’s case, a massive falling out in the family. I have always had the intuitive knowledge that my dad’s cancer was connected to the fight with Abuelo. I just did not know how. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that the brain tumor represented his inability to see past the fight with Abuelo. Holding a grudge will eat away at a person from the inside, much like a cancer. How does this relate to his tumor? Is it possible that forgiving my grandfather would have helped?

• The illness put an enormous strain on the family but in retrospect, we gained a lot from it. Dad’s job required lots of travel and we were starting to drift apart. After the surgery he had to cut back on his work hours and this gave us time with him. The five years were a blessing, especially for my sisters who were eight and ten when he first got sick. They got to spend quality time with him before he passed away. Those years were a gift for everyone but especially for my sisters.

Read Part 4 HERE 

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Self-Healing, Cancer and Love - Part 2

This is an excerpt from A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer and Love (Part I here). The book is an energy healing and meditation guide for families who are dealing with cancer.   

~ ~ ~ 

My uncle rang from the hospital to let us know what was happening that night. Something about a CAT scan. The word was familiar because I had heard it on the television show, ER. He promised to call when there was news. It was just after midnight when the phone rang again. All I remember was my mom crying when she heard the news. Dad had a malignant brain tumor. It was big – roughly the size of an orange. Were it not for the trip to the hospital, Dad might not have made it through the weekend. Looking back on it, we were extremely lucky that he stayed behind that December. One of the country’s top neurosurgeons worked at the local hospital. Dad was prepped for surgery that week. I do not know what would have happened if they had discovered the tumor in a ski resort, just days after Christmas.

We flew back to San Diego the next morning. I do not remember much of what happened that week; only that the pumpernickel bread in the hospital cafeteria was tasty. We spent five days at Scripps Memorial Hospital before and after the surgery. My family is originally from Mexico and the waiting room looked like a scene from a movie because we had so many friends camping out in the hallways. The hospital staff had to tell us to keep our visitor numbers down, but it was incredibly helpful to have so many loved ones supporting us. The surgery went well, thanks to the brilliant surgical team who got 98 percent of the tumor in just four hours. The recovery also seemed easier than any of us expected. Two weeks later, Dad was cheering at my sister’s soccer game. I kept telling him to sit down, and needless to say, his “header” jokes were not funny! We were relieved to put the surgery behind us. But there was still a silent cloud over our heads.

Dad had several radiotherapy treatments over the next few months. Eventually his doctors suggested a special laser surgery to get the last of it. I did not know it at the time, but there was a good chance the tumor would return. At that point the doctors put his life expectancy at nine months. We packed our bags and moved to Mexico City, where our extended family lived. Lucky for us, life expectancy estimates are only based on statistics.

A year went by and he was still perfectly healthy. I went off to college in Boston and my brother returned to the US for college a year later. We had a quiet New Years in San Diego that year with La Teacher and Guillermo, two years after the scare in the hospital. By then Dad was taking an interest in life, planning holidays to Europe and coming up with new business ideas. He was happy, playful and enthusiastic, going on and on about a franchise business that he wanted to set up. One day I asked him why he had not put his business plan into practice. He said he was waiting for the five-year mark. Until then there was still a risk that the cancer might come back. He did not want to leave us saddled with a fledgling business. I think that might have been the only time he mentioned it. All in all, we had four good years without any mention of the word cancer.

The health scare pushed him to broaden his horizons. For nearly a decade we had been taking the same holidays: summers in Mexico City and winters in Colorado. We went skiing one more time and then decided not to go back. It had gotten old. We spent the next holidays in Paris, my Dad’s favorite city, before traveling to Italy and Spain with my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a trip down memory lane for my dad and my uncles, who had lived in Spain as teenagers. We had a lot of laughs, especially when a fancy restaurant sent a roasted pheasant, head intact, to the table on New Year’s Eve. My sisters, aged 10 and 12, screamed bloody murder as soon as they caught the look of agony on the bird’s face. Dad covered its head with a napkin, which did not help, and eventually the bird went back to the kitchen. Even today, the memory still makes me laugh.

The next summer, however, Dad went in for his six-month checkup and a tumor appeared on the scans. It was small and we were optimistic about catching it early. He had surgery again, and this time the doctors got it all. The surgeon suggested a follow-up six weeks later, but we were not worried about it. I flew back to school in Boston, my sister left for boarding school, and my brother went to Italy on his semester abroad. Only my mom and my youngest sister stayed behind for the recovery. The surgery had gone well and we expected to put it behind us. It was my senior year of college and life was pretty normal. The main exception was Sept. 11 and the chaos that ensued. Dad woke me up calling to see if I was okay. How ironic! He had just been through brain surgery two weeks earlier. I should have been worried about him, not the other way around!  

Read Part 3 HERE

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Self-Healing, Cancer and Love - Part 1

This is an excerpt from A Personal Guide to Self-Healing, Cancer and Love (Available Here). The book is an energy healing and meditation guide for families who are dealing with cancer. The techniques in the book are complementary to medical care. 

Preface

Although I did not know it at the time, the winter of 1996 would change my life forever. My family lived in La Jolla, California. I was 16 and had just returned home after a year in boarding school. La Jolla was a beautiful place full of sunshine, weekends at the beach and tennis clubs. My brother was back from a year in military school and our younger sisters were both in elementary school. On the surface everything looked the same but life was slowly starting to change. Our dad traveled for work regularly and we were used to seeing him on weekends. His work was winding down and though he had more time to spend with us, he never seemed to have the energy for it. In the space of a year he had gone from being playful and good-natured to volatile, stubborn and always tired. He complained of nausea and headaches, but migraines run in the family so we did not think much of it. I remember being pissed off one weekend when he would not get up off the couch. We were running late for a special occasion. I thought something along the lines of “It’s not like you have cancer,” and stomped off.

At times it was as if I had come home to a stranger. Dad, at age 45, was acting erratically, camping out in pajamas and watching TV all day. I thought it was delayed grief over my grandfather’s death a few years earlier. The two of them never got along. Abuelo, Spanish for grandfather, had a difficult upbringing and he carried the scars with him through life. Growing up, Dad felt torn between forced loyalty to Abuelo and his love for the maternal grandfather who always reached out to him. That conflict was one of the reasons why my parents moved to California shortly after I was born. The last years of Abuelo’s life were full of drama, emotional tension and what soon became a feud between father and son. In retrospect, Dad would have benefited from counseling to deal with the emotional turmoil and to see Abuelo in a more forgiving light. Instead, Dad swept it under the rug. With this history bubbling under the surface, it was not surprising to see it play out as apathy, depression and frequent migraines.

Dad was increasingly hard to live with and eventually he decided to live part-time at my grandmother’s summerhouse nearby. He came and went between the two homes, much like he had commuted to Mexico City for the better part of five years. That December we spent Christmas Eve together at home and had planned a skiing holiday in Colorado. But Dad came down with the flu and we left without him. He promised to fly out when he felt better, but the days went by and he had no plans to join us. My mom was worried because he did not sound like himself. We felt disconnected and helpless, staying in a small ski lodge hundreds of miles away. My mom rang her best friend, Cristina, who we knew as La Teacher because she gave private cooking lessons in the area. She and her husband lived off the San Diego coast on beautiful Coronado Island.

Mom was reluctant to ask the favor as it meant a 40-minute drive from Coronado to La Jolla. Better safe than sorry. Cristina packed a sandwich and sent her husband, Guillermo, to check on Dad. He rang the doorbell and got no response. Guillermo cracked open a side window, removed the mosquito net and climbed through. Dad was on the second floor watching television. He heard the doorbell but did not think to answer it. Guillermo made small talk while my dad ate the sandwich. He seemed OK but the days went by and Dad still felt unwell. This time my dad’s older brother went to check on him. He decided to take him to the hospital. How my uncle managed to get him down the stairs we’ll never know! At six feet five and 220 pounds, my dad was a big guy. Luckily, so was my uncle. The thought of them stumbling to the car made us chuckle a few days later.

Read Part 2 HERE  

***

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Angel Intuitive Practice Thread

It is time for something new! The past year or so I have been giving angel readings on Facebook. It has been great fun and the forum has helped me build my confidence when it comes to intuition. I think its time to let others practice as well, so I will soon be piloting an Angel Intuitive Practice Thread. 

The idea is for budding intuitives, mediums, and angel card readers (like myself!) to practice. When I first started giving readings online, I was not sure how accurate they would be. You would be surprised. 

Its easy to get in the zone, this works for me: 

Opening Up Meditation. Any information that comes through, arrives through our Chakras. Especially the Heart and Brow Chakra in my case. I start by sitting down with my eyes closed. I visualize a big tree at my back. Its roots go deep into the earth and they keep me rooted in my place. Still conscious of the tree's deep roots, I allow my mind's eye to trace it all the way up. Its beautiful green leaves are full of sunshine and I imagine the breeze around us. The tree acts like a messenger between myself and the realm where the angels exist. By listening to the three I can hear and pass on messages.

Choose the Readee.  At this point, I turn my attention back to the computer screen and my Facebook Page. I post an update inviting people to ask for readings and then I choose them from the list, one by one. Sometimes I just see where my eyes land first. Or I look at their comments and a word or phrase will catch my attention. When I have a person, I close my eyes and ask for an image. 

Ask for the Message. Often it comes as a word, a feeling, a lyric or even a movie scene. Then I start writing about it and see what happens. The thing about giving readings is that younjust go with it. Don't think too much and just see what comes out. Its easier for me ifI imagine the words flowing from my Heart Chakra, down my arms and out my hands. I try to keep clear of my logical mind,   which would probably muddle it up. The Heart Chakra is the seat of our intuition. The Throat helps us communicate, whether its writing or speaking. Or typing up a quick message on Facebook.  

Angel Cards and Runes. If I am stuck for an image or feeling unsure, I turn to my cards or runes for help.  I start by asking the Archangels to give me a relevant message, then I shuffle the cards and choose one. This makes it a lot easier, especially if the person I am reading is in another place. When I look at the card I watch for my first impression. What do I notice, how does it make me feel? What does it mean? Then I start writing. Runes are also really helpful, but I stick to cards because it was easier for me to learn the meanings and the messages flow quicker that way. 

A few suggestions on how to word your readings   =)

• Keep it positive, helpful and specific. If I sense that someone is in a sad  place, I ask for a message that will help them. Often its a reassuring message. Sometimes it gives them a broader perspective or points out a blind spot in their thinking. 

• Tell them what you saw and what it means. The person receiving the reading may respond to either element. If a particular song popped into my mind, that song will often relate to them on a personal level and it grounds the reading.  

So next Tuesday the 25th, I will post a thread on Facebook, inviting the community to give each other readings. This can be great fun and in the long run, its much better to develop your own intuition. Angel Cards are also very simple and easy to use. My personal favorites are Doreen Virtue's Angel Tarot. I also love her Angel Therapy Cards, as well as the Sharman-Caselli Tarot Deck. Beautiful, simple cards. 

Let the games begin!  

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Sometimes the Earth Shakes

Yesterday I was sitting home alone, at my mom's house, watching The Dark Knight when the earth started shaking. Like really shaking. I had never been in Mexico City during an earth quake. It was really strong, especially now that my mom moved into a very tall apartment building. Yikes! As a kid in California we had lots of drills at school. Drop on your knees, cover your head and neck and crawl under the nearest desk. Well, my mom doesn't have any desks except for a glass writing table. 

It took me a couple seconds to realize that yes it was a quake, and I should probably get off the couch. The Jokers voice still playing in the background, I wracked my brain, thinking where to go. This isn't the house where I grew up and I still don't know where things are. All the while I was conscious that we are on the third floor of a twenty story building. With glass panes all around though thankfully none of them cracked. Though the building really creaked and shook.

So I stood under the nearest door frame and waited. Then I spotted a wooden table nearby and crawled under it. Are we still supposed to crawl under tables? I felt a little bit ridiculous but went ahead and did it. The phone started to ring furiously. My mom calling. So what is the protocol there? If the earth is still shaking do we go pick up the phone? It kept ringing and ringing and against my better judgement I crawled out from under the table to find a phone. It was my mom.

"Did you feel it?" She asked.

"It's still shaking!" 

It lasted for about a minute and stopped. Pheww. I grabbed the phone, put on my sneakers and went back to the television. Also checked Facebook and Twitter for updates lol, funny how we now go to our social media to find out what happened. It was quite the experience though thankfully nothing happened. 

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How do you feel today?

At the end of April I spent a couple days in bed. I hurt my back and it was really painful to walk, sit or stand. I went to the doctor and they gave me pain killers only. I was totally out of commission for three days, after a week I could walk and sit normally, and after two weeks I was back to normal. Though I haven't really made much of an effort to work out, walk, or go to the gym since then. Two months, now. 

Not surprising, I gained a couple pounds though I am not sure that anyone else notices. I'm lucky to be really really tall, so if its plus or minus five pounds, no one notices except for myself. But my clothes are a bit tighter than they used to be. Last month I bought a new pair of skinny jeans, size 28 instead of my usual 27. Just one size, but a couple years ago that would have driven me up the wall. Today, I could care less. I will go back a 27 when I go back to a 27.

The sharp back pain, followed by no back pain, made me realise that the only thing that matters is how we feel. Not how we look. And you can feel fantastic, no matter how you look. It has been a nice lesson in self-esteem and self-acceptance. Not bad for a girl who used to obsess about her weight (back in my pre-healing days, long long ago) ... 

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My First Book Interview - Eek!

Today I had my first ever book interview. Felt a little tongue tied at times but I think it was OK, if a little bit short. When it was over I remembered an anecdote from Louise Hay's You Can Heal Your Life, where she talks about how important it is to be kind to yourself, and encouraging in all you do. Louise Hay has been speaking in public for ages, and in the book she thinks back to her first appearance. The nerves, and that when it was done, she automatically thought to herself GOOD JOB! Yes, there were things she could have done better, but she started by patting herself on the back and thinking that she'd do even better next time around. And she did, again and again. 

So my first book interview is out of the way. I will pat myself on the back and then tomorrow I will sit down to think about my talking points and what I want to cover next time. It was a good start. Off we go ... 

So here it is! 

Self-Healing, Cancer and Love Interview

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